Friday, June 08, 2007

Weekender: 6/8-6/10

FRIDAY

Dub Assembly feat. Innerlign and Tyrant/Mundo and Lifted MC/Keith P/Royal Highnuss/Soy Capaz (The Green Elephant 5627 Dyer Street): So I think a good argument can be made that the stylistic tendencies of dubstep have had a more profound impact on dance music than any other hybrid genre in the past couple of years. From Skream's excellent debut full of backward glancing and forward looking dub to the dark starkness of Kode 9's work, some of the most interesting electronic music in the world has come in the form of dub recently. And thankfully, we've got a dubstep scene here that any American city would be really proud of. And if the great mixes you've heard from Keith P aren't enough, you don't have to take my word for it. Why don't you look at what Wire had to say about Dallas' own Jason Mundo:

"Don’t assume dubstep is an exclusively South London phenomenon: check the feverish workrate of Jason Mundo, a Texan. This is his third single in as many months, and by the time you’re reading this, no doubt another plate will already be pressed up. Mundo is a disciple of the bottom end, with trademark bass drops. His tunes can be played across dub, dubstep, and breaks sets with equally devastating effect. The bass on “My Sound” comes fully formed, rolling consistently throughout the track with an almost Techno feel, while “Burn it Down” is a choppier breaks affair, breathless with call and response rhythms and intermittent DJ grunts, It’s dub, but not as we know it." – The Wire UK, May 2007

Basically, Dub Assembly 8 is going to be great. Try something new if you haven't already, because it's by far the best thing happening in Dallas this evening.

Sean Vargas and Stephen R (Esoterica- Ft. Worth): Sean Vargas has been holding down this dance party in Ft. Worth for some time now, and it's rare to see two DJs with such good taste playing that town on the same night. Go to this if you're anywhere in the 817 this evening. Disco, punk, bmore, funk, whatever. They'll play something you'll like I'm sure.

Syndney Confirm CD release party with Farah/Lazer/PLID/Pretty Vacant (Rubber Gloves): I wasn't crazy about the Sydney Confirm material I heard several months ago on their Myspace page, but a listen to the new stuff the guys emailed to me a few days ago reveals a band that is heading in the right direction, with an Of Montreal/Yacht influenced synth-dancepop sound that might not be exactly what they want quite yet, but is pleasant nonetheless and certainly a sign of rapid improvement for the band. And at this point, anyone who completely dismisses Farah's music and performances can probably be brushed aside as someone who has a personal conflict with her. Is Farah a great traditional vocalist? Not at all. Is she a great performer in a traditional sense? Nope. But Johnny Jewel's music and her strangely innocent and surreal lyrics make for live appearances that are actually quite captivating. We've honestly had people from all over the country asking us questions about Farah, and although we usually don't have a lot of answers for them, thats part of what interests us about her. We have no idea what the hell she is trying to do, and we like it.

The Red Herrings/Street Hassle/iKILLCars (Secret Headquarters): SHQ celebrates it's one year anniversary and gets right back into things with another diverse weekend of shows. Denton's Street Hassle will be celebrating their CD release this evening, and their fuzzed out, lo-fi take on 60's psychedelic blues rock and pop is actually quite good. You've heard all the influences 8,000 times, and you've probably even seen this exact list of influences 8,000 times: Velvet Underground, Rolling Stones, Stooges, Sonic Youth, T Rex, Richard Hell, stuff like that. But still, what you can't take away from these guys is their charming recording aesthetic and their ability to write a good pop song, even if some might tire of the influences on the sleeve thing. I hope this translates well in a live setting. Austin's iKillCaRS, despite a kind of painful name spelling (quit with the caps dudes!), does a pretty good garage rock/pop thing that, again, won't blow you away with influence originality, but is pretty good nonetheless. Red Herrings' tired classic rockisms don't appeal to me at all.

The Party with Krames of Cobra Kai/Nature/Sober/Select(Zubar): For this edition of the Party, Central Booking has brought in Georgia's Krames, who has made a name for himself and his design crew with eclectic sets of latin house, old school hip hop, the newer ghetto shit, and a lot more. It's actually amazing to say that the Zubar party seems to be getting BETTER over time, but that is exactly what is happening. Bigger crowds, better sets. A total blast.

Deep Snapper/Nouns Group/Koji Kondo (Rubber Gloves): The local post-hardcore vanguard all get together on this one, and based on the performances I've seen from these bands recently, the sizable local following they're starting to get is actually quite deserved. I'm sure I don't have to describe the sounds of these bands to most of the people reading this, so if you haven't heard them yet, go listen to a myspace page or something.

Men(JD and Jo of Le Tigre)/Aaron Lacrate(2505-formerly Club 7): Will Le Tigre ever get credit for the indie kids dancing, or nu rave, or ironic bmore funk, or the reemergence of flourecent as a fashion statement? I don't know, but they probably could. Anyway, the two members of Le Tigre that weren't in Bikini Kill will be spinning records at 2505 (Pacific Ave) with Baltimore scene staple Aaron Lacrate. This will be going after hours as well.

Another Holiday/Gashcat/Tenpenny Terribles (Secret Headquarters): Gashcat... hmmm. A pretty interesting band, and actually a bit creepy too. Whether it's the junkyard, almost tribal folk of "Jesus is Coming" or the gorgeous sleepy echoes of "The Black Creek Babies," this is a highly promising local collaboration that sounds like it could really be on to something.

Robert Gomez (Good Records-5pm): Some of the people from Palladium will be giving away tickets to the Manu Chao show on Sunday, and I believeGlen Reynolds plays at 3 o'clock as well. Oh, and when I was trying to find the Robert Gomez Myspace page, I came across the page for some other dude of the same name whose headline quote was "life's a bitch and then you die, so fuck the world and just stay high." So theres that.

Oh, and we didn't forget about The Hold Steady show at Hailey's. They just blow a lot.

SUNDAY

Calvin Johnson/Julie Dorion/Tha Bracelets (Rubber Gloves): Everett True once said that while Nirvana were clearly the most important band of Generation X's era, it was Beat Happening that really had the biggest influence, seeing as how much of what was important about Kurt Cobain and Nirvana came from the confrontational cute aesthetic of the late 80's Olympia scene, aka the one Calvin Johnson started. And while we could sit here and debate this contention if we wanted to, the fact remains that Calvin Johnson's impact on independent music is still highly visible even amongst today's bands, and his solo work, while not quite as revolutionary as what he did with Beat Happening, is still worthy of being taken seriously in it's own right. Highly recommended show.

Saturday at the Double Wide is your last shot at me in person for a while, as I'm moving to Seattle next week. After you burn through your "good riddance" comments, please come by from 9 p.m. on, whether it's en route to another shindig or not, and say hi at my informal g'bye deal at the bar (and for the PG/Dove Hunter set).

Yeah, I know, I put this up at my site. But more people read this site, including old acquaintances who may not have gotten the word about my move, so I'm trying to tie up all loose ends. Sue me. Then suck it. Hope to see you there.

street hassle has always been one of my fav songs by lou reed. it's so hard to accept bands that name themselves after songs and stuff. intentional or not. i had a hard time even accepting notes from underground and i love them. street hassle may be good. i don't know. but i think it's a horrible band name.